I really like this living-in-Florida thing. I mean, beautiful places like Destin are now only roughly 3 hours away. Since Blake is going to be in school for 4 more years (pray for me), we’ll be taking a lot of weekend trips instead of vacations that require airfare. Luckily, Florida is a great place for it.

Our trip to Destin had everything a little mini-vacay should have.

Lounging on the beach:

Trying out some new beachy fashions, like this mullet dress:

Going to new places:

Eating delicious food, like the sweet potato pancakes from The Donut Hole:

But the real reason we went to Destin was so that I could face my fear and check parasailing off my list. I am terrified of heights. No matter how many times I try to  get over it, I just can’t. Like I said in an earlier post, I’ve ridden in a hot air balloon, I’ve canyon-walked over nothingness in a pitch-black cave and I have flown a plane. But those experiences don’t lessen my fear of heights even a little bit.

Parasailing was no exception. The night before we went, I was having a little mini freak out in my head. I was obsessively checking news stories about people who have died while parasailing and doing a thorough background check of Just Chute Me, the company we went through for our parasailing experience. Just Chute Me passed with flying colors (and I’d highly recommend them if you’re ever in Destin), but reading those news stories and learning that I could be dragged underwater, hit a building or get detached from the boat did not help my state of mind.

They say young people always feel like bad things will never happen to them. I’m the opposite. If it can happen to someone else, I feel like it will probably happen to me.

But, despite the terror, we still ended up at Just Chute Me for our 9:30 appointment.

Remember how I said our pictures got completely ruined by Walgreens? Well, I was really happy to find out that while they are a little wonky, you can still see the picture. I choose to look at it like the pictures were developed through an artistic lens, rather than that they were ruined in the developer.

Walking to my fate and putting on a brave face:

While we were on the boat, it was really fun just to ride around the harbor and take in the day. I was also really happy that we weren’t going to be first or last to parasail. We were right in the middle, which made me feel that we were just a little more likely to avoid death. We’d know that the cords were hooked up right but the cords also wouldn’t be exhausted with use. I know, I’m mental.

Enjoying the ride:

Getting ready to go:

And up and away we go!

Blake took all of these pictures because I had a death-grip on our harness. No way no how was I going to let go. I kept eyeing the cords to make sure we were still attached, but once I let myself relax, it was a very peaceful, fun experience. Looking out over the ocean and Destin’s harbor was absolutely beautiful.

They even dipped us in the ocean before they pulled us back up and finally into the boat. I was really proud of myself that I did this and pretty happy that it was over and I was safe and sound

Would I do this again? Maybe. Let’s not tempt fate too much now. Am I over my fear of heights? Not really, but there is still hang gliding and skydiving on my list, so maybe they will do the trick!